Sep 27, 2002 11:09 AM
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(Updated Sep 27, 2002 11:09 AM)
If you are a terror to many, then beware of many.
--Ausonius
Terrorism is a global phenomenon but in recent years it has acquired new dimension & there seems no end to it. The way it has grown & spread beyond limits during the last few years is a matter of great concern for all the nations. What happened on 11th Sept 2001 in America & then the recent the carnage at Akshardham temple in Gujarat, is an example of how dangerous these terrorist attacks can really be on a nation. Though, the civilized world strongly condemned & denounced these attack on America, terrorism & terrorist activities are still increasing by leaps & bounds & is in evidence everywhere (Especially in India).
Before 11th Sept, America was a different country & New York was a different city. America was considered as the safest place on planet Earth but now it is compared with Pakistan & Afghanistan where anything can happen anytime. The rise of extremism & terrorism in America is a part of their political legacy. Their long political strategies never attempted to bring peace & harmony in Asian & African nations. Rather a feeling of hatred, alienation & disharmony was created in the hearts of Arabs & people from the African nations. For example, Palestinians felt neglected & mistreated when America started favoring Isreal. As a result, of this unfair treatment, Palestinians created their own ethnic identity & decided to take terrorism & violence (Though, they have a reason to resort to terrorism, it is not right on their part to justify their actions through violence).
We talk about terrorist attacks on the American soil to such a great extend that we tend to forget the fact that thousands of innocent civilians & army personnel are killed in Indian territory everyday by various terrorist groups working in coalition with our neighbors. Besides this cross-border terrorism, there is a rise of extremism & terrorism in our north-eastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura & Assam. Though, these terrorist from our north-eastern region may have very good objective & reasons but then again, they resort to violence & armed upsurge as they are unable to participate in the democratic process because of their various inherent weaknesses.
Terrorism, violence, blood-shed & killing has become the order of the day. Poverty, unemployment, lack of education etc among the general masses further worsen the situation as these are the people who tend to get more attracted towards violence & blood-shed. Terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland etc is of this nature. Wide-spread poverty, unemployment, neglected youths, peasants & emotional alienated people are the group of community who are an easy target of many terrorist groups.
Terrorism is a global problem & as such cannot be solved in isolation. What is needed is international co-operative effort to fight against this global menace. Seeing the present situation, the world governments should simultaneously & continuously crack down on various militant & terrorist groups. This global threat can be reduced & eliminated only by close co-operation between various nations. The countries where militancy springs from should be clearly identified & declared as terrorist states. India keep repeating in its statement that Pakistan supports terrorism & has terrorist training camps in its region (Though for some reason or the other America & UN restrain from labeling Pakistan as the terrorist state). It is very difficult for any terrorist activity to thrive for long in a country unless there is strong internal & external support to it. These terrorist should try to understand this simple logic that terrorism achieves nothing & there cannot be any victor in terrorism.
Terrorism is a crime against humanity & so it should be dealt with an iron hand & the forces behind it should be exposed well. Terry Waite a British religious adviser who was held hostage in Lebanon rightly said that “The terrible thing about terrorism is that ultimately it destroys those who practice it. Slowly but surely, as they try to extinguish life in others, the light within them dies”……
Terrorism, violence, blood-shed & killing has become the order of the day. When any super-power (Like America) becomes the victim of terrorist attacks, we see more blood-shed & killing by them in retaliation. This ruthless chain of action & reaction, full of horrifying violence is much too dangerous to be ignored or taken lightly. We should all remember what Mahatma Gandhi once said in his statement “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”.
Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the only shot that people remember is the one that gets past you.
--Paul Wilkinson
